Kuwait’s diwan project ‘11pc complete’

Kuwait, July 26, 2011

Eleven per cent of the construction works on the new public diwan building of Kuwait’s Ministry of Education has been finished, a report said.

The building work is scheduled for completion by June 2014, according to a report from Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).

The new building, located in the Ministries Zone in South Surra, is being constructed in the shape of a traditional Kuwaiti ‘boum’, one of the vessels used for centuries by earlier generations of Kuwaitis for trade and pearl-diving, project manager Adel Al-Ali was quoted as saying by Kuna.

“The building consists of two separate arcuate-shaped [bow-like] buildings connected in the middle,” Al-Ali said, adding that the interior will include a large yard decorated with special lighting.

Al-Ali further explained that the two modernist glass and steel buildings will be constructed on a two-story base resurfaced in gray stone, noting at the same time that one of the buildings will consist of nine stories, while the other will have eleven, said the report.

The construction will also include a three-tier basement parking lot, connected to the inner yard by elevators and escalators, Al-Ali added, further noting that the impressive new HQ will also feature a 600-seat theatre.

The building's exterior is set to include a special computer-controlled LED lighting system to be used on special occasions like national holidays, according to the report.

The MoE's public diwan is being constructed in the South Surra Ministries Zone so as to reduce traffic congestion nearer the ministry's headquarters building in Kuwait City, the Kuna report said.